Patent Grant
9016588
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless IC tag configured to perform reading and writing various product data, and particularly to a wireless IC tag comprising an RFID tag, both directionality and communication distance of which have been improved.
2. Prior Art
A method for implementing quality management for a product, which normally exists in any state of liquid, viscous or semi-solid during the manufacturing, such as fresh concrete and a thermoplastic resin, by means of incorporating an IC tag having been written with various data in advance in the product before the product has been hardened, and then reading the data or writing new data from/to the IC tag incorporated in the hardened product via radio communication, has already been known.
The wireless IC tag as described above is prepared by molding the tag chip, to which a capacitor, an RFID tag module, an antenna coil and so on are mounted, with a resin material to shape the molded tag chip into a small piece, the form of which is global, cylindrical, columnar or the like. The prepared wireless IC tag is then introduced into the material for building a construction before the material is hardened. Note that the tag substrate (chip) must be enclosed in the central portion of the molded resin piece and is caused to face a predetermined direction in order to effectively perform writing and reading operations of signals via radio communication. Additionally, an IC tag provided with plural small recesses and/or grooves on its outer shell body formed of a resin material for aiming at enhancing the contact of the IC tag to the material for building a construction without causing gaps therebetween while keeping appropriate adhesiveness to each other, when the IC tag is introduced into the material for building a construction, blended, and mixed, is also known.
[Patent Document 1]: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-145385
[Patent Document 2]: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-282688
[Patent Document 3]: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1996-167015
[Patent Document 4]: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-64468
The wireless IC tag of the type as described above is introduced into a material for building a construction, such as cement and mortar, together with gravel, water, etc. by means of an IC tag incorporating machine and is then kneaded with the material for building a construction. The cement or mortar product incorporated with the wireless IC tags is fed by virtue of compressed air to a construction site and casted there to build a concrete construction, such as a building, a bridge and a tunnel. Consequently, the wireless IC tags are embedded in the concrete construction so that they locate at positions certain distance inside from the wall of the construction and are caused to face various directions at random.
At the time of unloading and casting of the cement or mortar product, and after hardening thereof, writing of data signals is started via radio communication. However, there is a problem of difficulty in implementing the effective communication when the radio communication is carried out in such a condition that the wireless IC tags are embedded at locations in the construction, which are so far from the wall surface, or when the radio communication is carried out in such a situation that the direction of the antenna to the reader/writer is turned away.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless IC tag, to which data writing can be securely implemented by using an IC tag introducing apparatus, that can be formed in a dimension which does not affect the strength of the material for building a construction to be incorporated with the wireless IC tag, that can ensure a communication distance required for reading and writing data, and that is provided with an antenna having excellent directionality.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wireless IC tag which has such a strength and stability to chemicals that the wireless IC tag main body will not be affected even it is introduced into a material for building a construction to be incorporated with the wireless IC tag, such as a cement product and a mortar product. Further, it is also an object of the present invention to provide a wireless IC tag which is compatibly mingled with the material for building a construction to be incorporated with the wireless IC tag.
The wireless IC tag according to the present invention is characterized in that an RFID tag module is mounted on a plate-shaped ferrite core and antennas respectively having been connected to the RFID tag module are placed to the surface of the plate-shaped ferrite core.
The wireless IC tag according to the present invention is further characterized in that the antennas to be fixed to the surface of the ferrite core include a primary antenna to be wound at substantially central part in the circumferential surface of the plate-shaped ferrite core and a pair of secondary antennas to be wound at both lateral positions of the primary antenna.
Further, the antennas to be fixed to the surface of the ferrite core are characterized by being consisted of a first primary antenna and a pair of first secondary antennas, those which are wound from one direction on the circumferential surface of the plate-shaped ferrite core, and a second primary antenna and a pair of second secondary antennas, those which are wound from the other direction perpendicular to the one direction on the circumferential surface of the plate-shaped ferrite core.
The antennas to be fixed on the surface of the ferrite core are characterized by being fixed on both the upper and under sides of the plate-shaped ferrite core.
The antennas to be fixed on both the upside and underside of the ferrite core are characterized by being wound in a spiral state along the shape of the plate-shaped ferrite core.
The antennas to be fixed on the ferrite core are characterized by being formed by means of printing technique.
The wireless IC tag according to the present invention is characterized by being consisted of a plate-shaped ferrite core, to which an RFID tag module is mounted, and antennas, and that the wireless IC tag being molded with a protective enclosure.
The protective enclosure is characterized by being a columnar outer shell body.
The wireless IC tag according to the present invention is characterized in that circumferential protrusions are formed on the outer peripheries of both end portions of the columnar outer shell body forming the protective enclosure.
The wireless IC tag according to the present invention is further characterized in that a plurality of concave portions are formed on the surface of the protective enclosure.
The wireless IC tag according to the present invention is still further characterized in that a plurality of concave grooves extending in the axial direction are formed on the body section of the columnar outer shell body forming the protective enclosure.
Now, the examples according to the present invention are described with referring to the appended drawings. Note that the examples of the wireless IC tag to be introduced into fresh concrete during mixing thereof are given in the following, the wireless IC tag according to the present invention is not limited to the one to be incorporated with fresh concrete and may also be applied to a liquid, viscous or semi-solid materials, e.g. mortar, a thermoplastic resin material in the melted state, and gypsum before being hardened.
Now, the wireless IC tag 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is explained with referring to
The ferrite core 2 is either made of one plate-shaped ferrite or a plate-like ferrite core formed by laminating several thin ferrite plates. In this example, the ferrite core 2 is shaped in a plate-like configuration with a dimension of 16 to 18 mm in the length and the width (L×W), respectively, and 2 to 3 mm in the thickness (H), and is configured to be enclosed in the protective enclosure described later.
On the surface of the ferrite core 2, an RFID tag module is mounted. The RFID tag module 4 to be mounted on the surface 21 of the ferrite core 2 is an RFID tag using an FeRAM (8 KByte), that is a non-volatile memory utilizing a ferroelectric, and is configured in the form of a chip 42 in which the parts, such as an FeRAM, an analog demodulator, a microcomputer and peripheral circuits, are packaged and mounted on the ferrite core 2. To the RFID tag module 4, a capacitor 41 and a primary antenna 31 as well are connected. A capacity between power sources (30 μF in this example) is additionally provided to the RFID tag module 4 in order to take a measure against a limiting factor to the communication rate.
In this example, two-stage booster ferrite core antenna is used in order to improve the directionality of an antenna to be used. Winding of the antenna is started in a direction from the circumferential surface of the ferrite core 2. In this example, the antenna is wound by starting from one end 23 in the longitudinal direction of the ferrite core 2 toward the other end in parallel to the shorter side of the ferrite core 2, and the primary antenna 31 having been connected to the RFID tag module 4 is wound around the middle position in the longitudinal direction of the ferrite core 2, and the secondary antennas 32, 33 are wound respectively at both lateral positions of the primary antenna. In this example, the primary antenna 31 is configured as a coil having been wound twice, and the secondary antennas 32, 33 are configured as a coil having been wound four times, respectively. These coils configuring the antennas 31, 32 and 33 are formed on the ferrite core 2 by means of printing wiring technique. In the wireless IC tag 1, data writing is achieved from the axis line direction of the primary coil and the secondary coils. In this example, communication is set up so that communication is carried out between the IC tag introducing machine 90 and the reader/writer (not shown) at the frequency band of 13.56 MHz.
By structuring the wireless IC tag 1 as described above, a wireless IC tag 1, which can be operated with low magnetic field, has excellent antenna directionality and can perform excellent communication in terms of communication distance and the rate, can be provided.
Now, the wireless IC tag 5 according to the second example of the present invention is described with referring to
The plate-shaped ferrite core 6 is made of either one plate-shaped ferrite or a plate-like ferrite core formed by laminating several thin ferrite plates. In this example, the ferrite core 6 is shaped in a plate-like configuration with a dimension of 16 to 18 mm in the length and the width (L×W), respectively, and 2 to 3 mm in the thickness (H), and is configured to be enclosed in the protective enclosure described later.
Two RFID tag modules 8a, 8b are mounted on the surface 61 of the ferrite core 6, and two antennas respectively connected to the RFID tag modules 8a, 8b as described later are wound in two directions, respectively on the circumferential surface of the ferrite core 6. The RFID tag module 8a, 8b is an RFID tag which uses a non-volatile memory, namely an FeRAM (8 KByte) employing a ferroelectric. In the RFID tag module 8a, 8b, an FeRAM, an analog demodulator, a microcomputer, and parts such as peripheral circuits 82a, 82b, are formed into a chip and the chip is mounted on the ferrite core. To the RFID tag module 8a, 8b, capacitors 81a, 81b and primary antennas 71a, 71b as well are connected, respectively. A capacity between power sources (30 μF in this example) is additionally provided to the RFID tag modules 8a, 8b in order to take a measure against a limiting factor to the communication rate.
In this example, a two-stage booster ferrite core antenna is used in order to improve the directionality of an antenna to be used. The first antenna is wound in a direction from the circumferential surface of the ferrite core 6. In this example, the antenna is wound from one end 63 in the longitudinal direction of the ferrite core 6 toward the other end in parallel to the shorter side of the ferrite core 6, and the primary antenna 71a having been connected to the RFID tag module 6 is wound around the middle portion in the longitudinal direction of the ferrite core 6, and the secondary antennas 72a, 73a are wound respectively at both lateral positions of the primary antenna. In this example, the primary antenna 71a is configured as a coil having been wound twice, and the secondary antennas 72a, 73a are configured as a coil having been wound four times, respectively. These coils configuring the antennas 71a, 72a and 73a are formed on the ferrite core 6 by means of printing wiring technique.
The second antennas are then wound in the other directions on the ferrite core 6 so that the second antennas extend in directions perpendicular to the antennas 71a, 72a and 73a. In this example, the primary antenna 71b having been connected to the RFID tag module 8b is wound from one end 62 at the shorter side of the ferrite core 6 toward the other end, and the secondary antennas 72b, 73b are wound on both lateral positions of the primary antenna 71b. The primary antenna 71b is configured as a coil having been wound twice, and the secondary antennas 72b, 73b are configured as a coil having been wound four times, respectively. These antennas are also formed on the ferrite core 6 by means of printing wiring technique.
The wireless IC tag described above is configured such that data writing is implemented from the respective axis line directions of the primary coil and the secondary coils, with the primary coil and the secondary coils are wound separately in different directions. Note that, though two RFID tag modules 8 are provided in this example, one RFID tag module which is common to antennas 71a, 72a and 73a to be wound in a direction and antennas 71b, 72b and 73b to be wound in the direction perpendicular to the aforementioned direction of the antennas 71b, 72b and 73b may be mounted on the ferrite core 6. Additionally, the condition for communication may be set up so as to implement communication separately at different frequency bands in order to avoid radio waves from the antennas 71a, 72a and 73a being wound in a direction and radio waves from the antennas 71b, 72b and 73b being wound in the other direction from interfering to each other.
By structuring the wireless IC tag 1 as described above, a wireless IC tag 1, which has excellent antenna directionality and can perform excellent communication with the reader/writer in terms of communication distance and communication rate can be provided.
Now, the wireless IC tag 9 according to the third example of the present invention is explained with referring to
The plate-shaped ferrite core 11 is made of either one plate-shaped ferrite or a plate-like ferrite core formed by laminating several thin ferrite plates. In this example, the ferrite core 11 is shaped in a plate-like configuration with a dimension of 16 to 18 mm in the length and the width (L×W), respectively, and 2 to 3 mm in the thickness (H), and is configured to be enclosed in the protective enclosure described later.
Two RFID tag modules (not shown) are mounted on the upside 11a and underside 11b of the ferrite core 11, respectively, and each antenna having been connected to the RFID tag modules as described later is arranged spirally to the upside and underside of the ferrite core 11, respectively. The RFID tag module is an RFID tag which uses a non-volatile memory, namely an FeRAM (8 KByte) employing a ferroelectric. In the RFID tag module, an FeRAM, an analog demodulator, a microcomputer, and parts such as peripheral circuits, are formed into a chip and the chip is mounted on the ferrite core. To the RFID tag module, a capacitor (not shown) and spiral antennas 12a, 12b as well are connected, respectively.
In this example, spiral antennas 12a, 12b are formed on both of the upside 11a and underside 11b of the ferrite core 11 by means of printing wiring in such a pattern that the antennas extend along the shape of the surface to be wired of the ferrite core 11 in order to improve the directionality of the antennas. Note that, although two RFID tag modules are provided in this example, an RFID tag module being common to an antenna 12a to be printed to one surface of the ferrite core and an antenna 12b to be printed to the other surface of the ferrite core may be mounted inside the ferrite core 11. Additionally, the condition for communication may be set up so as to implement communication separately at different frequency bands in order to avoid radio waves respectively transmitted from the antennas 12a and 12b printed on the ferrite core 11 from interfering to each other.
The wireless IC tag 10 shown in
As the material for molding the outer shell body 101, a synthetic resin material which is excellent in the strength and the stability to chemicals shall be selected, so that the wireless IC tag (main body) 1 can be protected during such a period that the wireless IC tag is subjected to kneading with the material for building a construction and is remained in the embedded state in the hardened material used for building a construction. Particularly, when cement with strong alkalinity is used as the material for building a construction, either a polypropylene resin or a polyamide resin is used as the material for molding the outer shell body. Additionally, these resins may be reinforced with a reinforcing material, such as glass fibers and inorganic filler. Further, a glassy material for adjusting specific gravity use may be added to a resin composing the outer shell body 101 and kneaded together so that the specific gravity of the wireless IC tag 10 is adjusted to the suitable range for distribution itself in the material for building a construction. For example, a suitable range of the specific gravity of the wireless IC tag to be kneaded with the material for building a construction is approximately in a range of from 1.3 to 2.3.
As shown in
Although the wireless IC tag 10, 20 formed by molding the wireless IC tag (main body) 1 is described in Example 4, the wireless IC tag (main body) to be molded in the outer shell body 101 may be either a wireless IC tag (main body) 5 in which antennas are provided in two different directions on the ferrite core 6, or a wireless IC tag (main body) 9 in which spiral antennas 12a, 12b are arranged on the ferrite core 11. Additionally, as the shape of the outer shell body, various shapes including global, elliptic, bale-like, barrel-like, rectangular solid and the like may be employed.
Additionally, the wireless IC tags having had kneaded in the kneading vessel with fresh concrete are carried by a vehicle loading a concrete mixer thereon to a construction site and are fed together with fresh concrete by virtue of compressed air to be casted for building a concrete construction. After being casted, the wireless IC tags are remained inside the concrete construction and are adapted to implement radio communication with the reader/writer locating outside the concrete construction.
With the wireless IC tag according to the present invention, the communication distance and the directionality of the antennas have been improved. Further, when the wireless IC tag having been molded with the protective enclosure is embedded in the casted material for building a construction, such as cement, mortar and a resin material, and the wireless IC tag locates at a position a certain distance inside from the surface of the construction, the wireless IC tag can perform data communication without error even though it is fixed at any positions and/or angles at random in the construction, e.g. even in the case that the wireless IC tag is embedded in the construction in an inclined state.
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| Decision of Patent Grant issued Sep. 30, 2014 in Japanese Application No. 2012-040775, with English translation thereof. |
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| 20130221111 A1 | Aug 2013 | US |
